An ad by the Alliance for North Carolina attacks Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory over his record as Charlotte mayor.

What the ad says: The ad begins with a postcard image of Charlotte with the words "Welcome to Charlotte! ... not the safest place." Narrator: "Charlotte, North Carolina. A higher crime rate than New York and L.A. That didn't stop Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory from taking a pay raise for himself, but vetoing a pay raise for police and firefighters, even as crime increased. And the Charlotte Observer said 'McCrory failed to address deep-seated problems by not adequately funding police and fire resources.' Mayor McCrory, stop supporting pay raises for politicians like yourself, and start supporting police and firefighters."

The background: The ad makes several claims about crime and the city budget.

POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS: In 2006, the Democratic majority on the Charlotte City Council passed a budget that included the first tax increase in 10 years.

The budget included a three percent raise for city workers, plus an additional five percent for certain police officers and firefighters.

McCrory vetoed the budget, saying among other things that the tax increase was unnecessary.

According to city council minutes from that year, he also said he had a "respectful disagreement" over giving one group of city employees higher raises than others.

"We saw fire uniforms, we saw sanitation uniforms, we saw police uniforms in here, yet we took one select group of good people and said you are going to get more across the board," he said, according to the minutes.

In 2007, the Charlotte Observer editorial board wrote that McCrory had not "adequately" funded police and fire resources in an editorial endorsing him for re-election.

CRIME RATE: Every year, police agencies around the country submit statistics on reported crime to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Based on the numbers for murder, rape, burglary, robber, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft, CQ Press publishes an annual list of crime rankings for cities with more than 75,000 people.

In 2007, CQ Press ranked Charlotte the 50th least safe out of 378 cities — the worst score for a North Carolina city. Los Angeles was 135th least safe; New York City, 237th.

However, the FBI says on its Web site that these kinds of rankings are "simplistic" and "incomplete," since they do not take into account other variables, such as demographics and its geography, that could affect crime in a given area.

Overall, the FBI statistics show that the crime rate has gone down in Charlotte since McCrory took office in 1995, although there was an uptick from 2005 to 2006 — the year McCrory vetoed the budget.

PAY RAISES: As mayor of Charlotte since 1996, McCrory's salary and expenses have risen from $24,800 to $39,900. That's about a 60-percent increase.

Adjusted for inflation, however, it's more like a 20 percent raise.

The Charlotte mayor does not typically vote on the city budget, which includes pay raises, but he can veto it. If he does, it takes seven out of 11 votes from the City Council to override his veto.

In 1998, McCrory broke a tie, voting with the City Council's Republicans to overturn a pay raise for city leaders that would have boosted his own salary by several thousand dollars.

This year, the City Council narrowly approved a pay raise for members and the mayor in a vote that McCrory did not join. McCrory did not make any public statements on the raise and did not veto the budget, but his campaign staff said later that he opposed it.

Is it accurate? The ad is technically accurate, but overall it paints a misleading picture. While the crime rate increased in 2006, it has been down overall during McCrory's tenure. The pay raises for the mayor were in a different year than the pay raises for firefighters. And there are reasons to be skeptical of the comparison between Charlotte and New York and L.A.

— Ryan Teague Beckwith

What happened to crime in Charlotte from 2005 to 2006?

That depends on how you slice the statistics. 

The number of reported violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery and assault) dropped from 7,933 to 7,532, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's uniform crime reports.

At the same time, the estimated population grew from 677,122 to 699,398, so the number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents dropped from 1,172 to 1,077.

Meantime, the number of reported property crimes (burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft) rose from 46,589 to 48,886.

That also increased on a per capita basis, going from 6,880 to 6,990 per 100,000 residents.

As a whole, violent and property crimes went from 54,522 to 56,418, or 8,052 reported crimes per 100,000 residents to 8,067.

To recap: Violent crime went down, but property crime went up. That means the overall crime rate went up from 2005 to 2006.

Violent crime went down in Charlotte under Pat McCrory's tenure.

From 1995 to 2007, the number of murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults reported in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's uniform crime reports dropped from 9,228 to 7,233.

At the same time, the city's population increased from 544,146 to 733,291.

That means the per capita crime rate also dropped, from 1,696 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 1995 to 986 violent crimes per 100,000 in 2007.

Property crime also went down.

From 1995 to 2007, the number of burglaries, larcenies and motor vehicle thefts reported to the FBI went up from 42,882 to 51,279.

But that was still below population growth.

That means the per capita crime rate dropped, from 7,881 property crimes per 100,000 residents in 1995 to 6,993 property crimes per 100,000 in 2007.

How does property crime in Charlotte compare to New York and Los Angeles?

According to uniform crime statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte had more property crime per capita than New York and Los Angeles in 2007.

Property crime includes burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft. Population estimates were based on U.S. Census Bureau data and yearly growth rates in each city.

According to the FBI:

Charlotte had 51,279 property crimes and a population of 733,291.

Los Angeles had 101,457 property crimes and a population of 3.9 million.

New York had 149,488 property crimes and a population of 8.2 million.

Based on those figures, Charlotte had 6,992 property crimes per 100,000 residents — a higher rate than New York's 1,819 or Los Angeles' 2,621.

How does violent crime in Charlotte compare to New York and Los Angeles?

According to uniform crime statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte had more violent crime per capita than New York and Los Angeles in 2007.

Violent crime includes murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Population estimates were based on U.S. Census Bureau data and yearly growth rates in each city.

According to the FBI:

Charlotte had 7,233 violent crimes and a population of 733,291.

Los Angeles had 27,806 violent crimes and a population of 3.9 million.

New York had 50,453 violent crimes and a population of 8.2 million.

Based on those figures, Charlotte had 986 violent crimes per 100,000 residents — a higher rate than New York's 614 or Los Angeles' 718.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation warns against crime rankings.

On its Web site, the federal law enforcement agency warns that rankings of cities based on its annual crime reports can be flawed:

Each year when Crime in the United States is published, many entities—news media, tourism agencies, and other groups with an interest in crime in our Nation—use reported figures to compile rankings of cities and counties. These rankings, however, are merely a quick choice made by the data user; they provide no insight into the many variables that mold the crime in a particular town, city, county, state, region, or other jurisdiction. Consequently, these rankings lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with their residents. 

The FBI's crime statistics are used by CQ Press in its annual rankings of U.S. cities.

Those rankings were cited in a recent ad attacking Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory by the Alliance for North Carolina. 

Does Charlotte have a higher crime rate than New York or L.A.?

A new ad from the Alliance for North Carolina attacks Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory over the city's crime: "A higher crime rate than New York and L.A."

The statistic comes from CQ Press, a division of SAGE Publications in Los Angeles.

Each year, it publishes a list of city crime rankings based on uniform crime statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. CQ Press looks at the rates of murder, rape, burglary, robbery, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft per 100,000 people in cities with populations over 75,000.

The exceptions are Chicago and other 11 other cities, because they report certain crimes differently. It also does not track changes over time.

"The study does not cover how crime rates change within a specific city," said CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney.

In 2007, CQ Press ranked Charlotte the 50th least safe out of 378 cities — the worst score for a North Carolina city.

New York was the 237th least safe and Los Angeles 135th.

Correction: As of June 1, 2008, CQ Press is no longer a part of Congressional Quarterly. 

After the jump, selected city rankings.

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